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FOLKLIFE VILLAGE

The Folklife Village is a free area at the Rougarou Fest where visitors can engage with various aspects of culture, humanities, and folklore. It features demonstrations, workshops, performances, and exhibits showcasing traditional crafts, music, dance, storytelling, and other traditions unique to South Louisiana.

Cultural practices are deeply intertwined with a community’s identity. Preserving these practices helps communities maintain a sense of who they are, fostering a connection to their heritage and ancestors. By preserving cultural practices, communities ensure the transmission of traditions, values, language, and history from one generation to the next. This is vital for maintaining identity, transmitting heritage, enriching cultural diversity, and demonstrating resilience and adaptation in the face of change.

The 2024 Folklife Village at the Rougarou Fest is made possible with funding from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Rebirth Grant. Rebirth Grants support programmatic initiatives focused on the humanities. Funding for this project has been provided by the State of Louisiana and administered by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. The views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. The 2024 Folklife Village is also made possible with funding from the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area.

Join us on Friday, October 18th in the Folklife Village for a Pedro Tournament sponsored by Beck’s on the Bayou from 5pm-7pm and Cajun Music/Dancing from 6pm-8pm!

Tent 1: Le Chien Rouge “The Red Dog” 

This area is home to the Atchafalaya Narrative Stage, also known as a Talk Stage or a Storytelling Stage, as our way of sharing our traditions and folklore with the rest of our community and with visitors to the area. This area features local culture bearers who discuss a particular topic or demonstrate a particular tradition while a moderator facilitates the conversation and allows for questions from the audience. hafalaya National Heritage Area.

Saturday, October 19th  

11am-4pm  Atchafalaya Narrative Stage conversations including:

Lagniappe on the Bayou

Bayou School Memories

Wood Carving with Gene Hebert and Ivy Billiot

Weaving Baskets with Janie Luster

Saving Seeds with Wendy Billiot

 

Sunday, October 20th 

11am-4pm  Atchafalaya Narrative Stage conversations including:

Storytelling with Moose Jackson

Making Toys with Douglas Fazzio

Quilting with Cane Cutters Quilters

Shrimping with Lance Nacio

The Center for Traditional Boatbuilding

 

Tent 2: The Bayou Culture Collaborative

This area allows guests to interact with The Bayou Culture Collaborative, an initiative of the Louisiana Folklore Society to connect those interested in the human dimension of land loss, and its various working groups identifying what is needed to include the human dimension and culture in Louisiana’s plans to address our statewide environmental changes. These groups include Culture and Coastal Planning, Artists and Tradition Bearers, French Language Preservation, Preparing Receiving Communities, and Protecting Collections. Passing It On workshops are taught by a tradition bearer who would like to pass on their tradition through a workshop that provides deep learning.

Saturday, October 19th 

10am-5pm  The Bayou Culture Collaborative including:

The Bayou Culture Collaborative Working Groups

Table Française (French Table)

The Center for Planning Excellence

 

Sunday, October 20th 

10am-5pm  “Passing It On” Workshops including:

Traditional Boat-building with the Center for Traditional Boatbuilding

Wax Flower Making with Sabina Miller

 

Tent 3: La Maison “The House”

This area will feature cultural demonstrations to allow our visitors an opportunity to interact with local traditional crafters while they practice their traditions. Daylong demonstrations will include traditional boat building, fishing net making, quilting, and duck carving.

Saturday, October 19th and Sunday, October 20th

10am-5pm  Daylong Cultural Demonstrations including:

Janie Luster- Native baskets

Gene Hebert- Waterfowl Carving

Cane Cutters- Quilting

Ivy Billiot and Douglas Fazzio- Toy and Blowgun Carving